Butler presents The Deuce in a format of twenty-one conventional chapters, some brief and some moderately long. The primary delivery of the narrative is by interior monologue—the reverie of Tony, the main character. Occasionally, Tony relates the dialogue between people in anecdotes recalled from the past, as when he had conversation with his mother in Saigon, or with his father in New Jersey.

Often Tony guesses what other characters may be thinking, but the point of view remains in first person throughout the novel. A given chapter may contain memories from Vietnam and memories of earlier years in New Jersey mixed with description of the narrative present in New York City.

Since Tony is a rebellious teenager, he frequently laces his narrative with foul language to a degree not common in most other works by Butler. The feelings he expresses are often contradictory. The images he...